"Jody Lynn Nye - The Grand Tour" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nye Jody Lynn)

the expression on her face, that would hold no pleasure for either of them. Hiramus paid no attention to
Chuck. He unfolded a huge newspaper and became enveloped in it to the exclusion of all other stimuli.
Chuck turned his back on his seatmate and pressed his nose up against the glass.
The Dreamland looked just as lush and gorgeous as he would have fancied a dreamscape ought to
be. Meadows full of nodding flowers spread out from the tracks to the feet of a dense, green forest in
the middle distance. Beyond the wood, looming over all, was an endless line of mountains that
stretched high into the sky but did not seem to cut off any sunlight. Chuck wondered what was on the
other side. He hoped sincerely he didnтАЩt have to climb that escarpment. It looked sheer as a wall.
The green of the landscape changed to blue-green so abruptly that Chuck glanced back to make sure
they hadnтАЩt gone over a river. Even the flowers were different. So was the sky, now spotted with fluffy
white clouds. On a hill ahead, he could see a couple having a picnic. The man, wearing an old-
fashioned boater and a blazer jacket, threw crumbs to birds circling him while his female companion
clapped and tossed back her head in silent laughter. As quickly, the train passed over another invisible
line of delineation. The dominant color of the landscape changed to red-brown. A man with tattered
clothes clinging to his body dashed into view, looking back over his shoulder in desperation. He
scrambled away, sometimes clambering over the rocks on all fours, in obvious terror of his pursuers.
Even over the noise of the train Chuck could hear the sound of yelping hounds. They appeared, and
Chuck was taken aback by the horror of them. They had blood-red pelts and black lips pulled back to
show gleaming white teeth. They loped along easily, as though they knew the manтАЩs strength would
fail soon, and they could leap on him.
Chuck started looking for an emergency cord he could pull. They had to stop the train to save the
manтАЩs life! Then, just as he was about to bound up and call for the conductor, the man passed over the
border from the rust-colored rocks onto the blue-grass lawn. Chuck stared. The manтАЩs clothes seemed
to have fewer tears in them as he ran. Behind him, the hellhounds put on a burst of speed. They flew
over the divide and changed into a flock of pigeons. The birds caught up with the man in a moment,
passing harmlessly overhead, except for one that left a white spatter on his shoulder. The pigeons
joined the birds circling the picnickers, and the man came to an exhausted halt beside the blanket. The
woman beckoned to the man to sit down with them. Chuck craned his head to watch until the train
curved around to the right, leaving them behind. He started to turn to ask his seatmates if theyтАЩd seen
the same thing he saw, when the train plunged forward into the midst of a city.
What a place! The outskirts were lined with neighborhood after neighborhood of particolored
houses, bisected into bright hues. Very festive, Chuck thought. Green parks were surrounded by black
and white Tudor cottages sitting side by side with stone and glass Arts and Crafts edifices. Gleaming
office buildings came next, each successive row taller than the first until Chuck had to crane back his
head to see them. Church steeples, broadcast towers, gold-leafed domes, even a triangular framework
that looked like the Eiffel Tower peeped over the top of the highest. Suddenly, a vast, scaly lizard head
peeked out between two of the buildings. Chuck gasped and sat back, not believing his eyes.
He turned to the others, wanting to exclaim to a companion, тАЬDid you see that?тАЭ But he surveyed
the rest of his group, and changed his mind.
Hiramus Reston didnтАЩt look up when Chuck glanced his way. He was pleasant enough in a
curmudgeonly sort of way, Chuck supposed, though you could tell how opinionated he was by the way
he sat, by that disapproving twist to his mouth. He held his newspaper just so. His suitcase was
arranged on the rack over his head just so. Hiramus eyed everyone suspiciously as they went by. His
bag was alternately under his chair with one of his feet on the handle, or sitting on his lap with his
arms around it. Chuck wondered what he was hauling around with him. Dire secrets? A load of guilt?
Money? The man didnтАЩt look rich, but who knew what the true appearance of anything was under the
Dreamish glamour.
The large lady, Persemid Smith, bridled defensively as he looked over at her. Short but broad, he
saw a million of her on the streets of his city every day. Chuck thought that if she was much like her
astral image he would avoid her at home. She was too prickly. He was uncomfortable with people who